WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD'S WORD?
3. Ezra Sought the Law of the Lord: We are told that Ezra sought
the law of the Lord. He made it his business to check into what the Scripture
said. He searched the Scriptures and sought the knowledge of God. What was God
trying to say in this verse? How could he apply it to himself? He spent time
reading the Word, thinking about it, clarifying what it meant. He was doing
more than merely “flipping the pages.” He would stop on a particular verse and
get his “pick” out and mine the nuggets that were deep down below the surface
and hidden from sight. He didn’t just get the surface gold. There was a lot
more gold to be mined than that, and he sought out the truths that God had for
him and treasured them as much as the miner treasured the gold. It is important
for us to allow the Holy Spirit to bring these truths out to us as we study the
Scriptures. Otherwise they will be overlooked. When Ezra mined the gold, he
laid up a treasure so that whenever he needed it, he had it ready to give out
to others.
4. Ezra Applied the Law: What he mined, he applied to his own life.
Do you apply what you learn in Sunday school and church to your life? If you
don’t, then it is not causing changes to take place in your life. God wants the
Word to transform you and to help you grow. Romans 12:2 says, “…be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Ezra made use of the knowledge of the
Scriptures in his life first. We must measure our life by the Word of God, be
so thoroughly acquainted with it, and resolve to conform to it. Make it your
way of life. Psalm 119:11 says, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might
not sin against thee.” We have to try the Word out on our own lives first
before other people will listen to us. God’s Word will not automatically apply
itself to us. We have to apply it and practice it daily.
5. He Taught Israel the Laws: Ezra was willing to mine out the
nuggets from God’s Word and to communicate them to others for their good. Since
he studied the Word, he could explain it to other people. He understood what
God was trying to say, and he had applied these truths to himself. Therefore he
knew it worked.
There are five things we learned from Ezra’s example to us. We must:
1. Prepare our hearts 2. Choose to study
3. Seek the Law of the Lord 4. Apply it to our own life
5. Teach it to others
let us learn what we need to know about God’s Word in order to be skillful in living a Christian life as well as helping others in their journey of faith
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